The Project Gutenberg eBook, Burnham Breaker, by Homer Greene

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Title: Burnham Breaker

Author: Homer Greene

Release Date: December 13, 2003 [eBook #10449]

Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURNHAM BREAKER***

E-text prepared by Charles Aldarondo, Keren Vergon, William Flis, and the
Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team. Special thanks to
Mike Greene and the Little Greene Schoolhouse
(http://www.users.nac.net/mgreene/Homer_Greene_Museum.html) for supplying
missing pages for this rare book.

BURNHAM BREAKER

BY

HOMER GREENE

AUTHOR OF "THE BLIND BROTHER"

TO MY FATHER,

WHOSE GRAY HAIRS I HONOR, AND WHOSE PERFECT MANHOOD I REVERE,

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR.

HONESDALE, PENN., SEPT. 29, 1887.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. A SURPRISE IN THE SCREEN-ROOM

II. A STRANGE VISITOR

III. A BRILLIANT SCHEME

IV. A SET OF RESOLUTIONS

V. IN SEARCH OF A MOTHER

VI. BREAKING THE NEWS

VII. RHYMING JOE

VIII. A FRIEND IN NEED

IX. A FRIEND INDEED

X. AT THE BAR OF THE COURT

XI. THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE

XII. AT THE GATES OF PARADISE

XIII. THE PURCHASE OF A LIE

XIV. THE ANGEL WITH THE SWORD

XV. AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY

XVI. A BLOCK IN THE WHEEL

XVII. GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY

XVIII. A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

XIX. BACK TO THE BREAKER

XX. THE FIRE IN THE SHAFT

XXI. A PERILOUS PASSAGE

XXII. IN THE POWER OF DARKNESS

XXIII. A STROKE OF LIGHTNING

XXIV. AT THE DAWN OF DAY

CHAPTER I.

A SURPRISE IN THE SCREEN-ROOM.

The city of Scranton lies in the centre of the Lackawanna coal-field,
in the State of Pennsylvania. Year by year the suburbs of the city
creep up the sides of the surrounding hills, like the waters of a
rising lake.

Standing at any point on this shore line of human habitations, you can
look out across the wide landscape and count a score of coal-breakers
within the limits of your first glance. These breakers are huge, dark
buildings that remind you of castles of the olden time. They are
ma